Hosting an event could be a stressful activity. There are a lot that go into putting together a successful event. An event needs to be carefully planned, promoted, and ran for it to run flawlessly and for everyone to have an exceptional time. Luckily, coworking spaces could help you get your event running smoothly.

Here are 6 reasons why you should host your next event at a coworking space:

1. Existing community at a coworking spaceA coworking space normally have an existing community so you could normally leave a flyer or poster about the event at the communal space in a coworking space so members could learn about it.

2. Connect with local doersCoworking spaces are filled with different professionals across different industries. Hosting an event right after their work hour makes it convenient for them to attend.

3. Coworking spaces are normally equippedCoworking spaces are used to running events all the time and are normally equipped with speakers, projector, and whatever necessary to run your event smoothly. At Treehouse Society, we are equipped with accessories to run your space successfully. 4. Community manager at coworking spaceA coworking space is normally staffed with a community manager to guide your guests to the kitchen, restrooms, and the sorts. One less headache for you while you are running your event. 5. Comfortable and casualCoworking spaces are designed for their members to work long hours, so they are normally a comfortable and casual space for guests during an event. ​6. Tap into coworking space’s email list and websiteIt never hurts to ask a coworking space to see if they could feature your event on their email newsletter or website. We are always looking for content for our email newsletter at Treehouse Society and would love to feature on event on our next email!

Keep Treehouse Society in mind next time you are planning your next event! We are always happy to help! You could book our event space here.

Modern living is filled with distractions. It feels as if time pass by very quickly and nothing is getting done and you could feel very stressed from the constant busyness. This is what you need to ruthlessly prioritize in order to get things done. By prioritizing, you would be able to lead a more meaningful life and be more zen. Identifying what is important by aligning your life goals and prioritize items that will help you reach your goals.

Below are 5 tips to help you stay zen while maintaining a busy schedule.

1. Ruthlessly PrioritizeYou can’t do everything, but you can decide what is more important. Just because something is requested to be done ASAP by your colleague, doesn’t mean it is the most important thing to be done in your life. As Steve Jobs said, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become.”

2. Keep a to-do-listAfter you have decided what’s important in your life, make sure you get it done by keeping a to-do list. In fact, billionaire Richard Branson stated that his success was due to his to-do list.

3. Stay FitNot only does exercise help you manage weight and maintain healthy organs. The latest study shows that a regular exercise routine can make you happier, smarter, and more energetic. Your life is too short for unfocused thinking.

4. The distraction elimination.You will have to admit that everybody is distracted by constant connections via electronics nowadays. Try to avoid all possible distractions by being fully involved in the work process and check your inbox only twice a day like Tim Ferriss. There are a lot of methods to stay productive, from time blocking technique to practicing Zen Buddhism at Work.

5. Recreation TimeNo matter how busy you are, you should always have time for your interests and things you love. Without dedicating time to chill, you won’t last long in your busy mode.

6. RestGive yourself a good sleep, never skip on that.You will wake up refreshed and ready to crush it!

Keep up with these six points for your busy day and you will always win the day.

San Francisco had been making headlines for being the most expensive city in the United States. However, many still try to build their startups here. Let’s look at the status of the city and check why this is still a great place for your startup.

As a startup founder, you might need the following for your company to run smoothly.

Talent CapitalSan Francisco is a hip city where college graduates want to move to. What does that mean to your startup? It means there is a huge pool of talent to recruit from.

Startup Culture People are excited when you tell them about your startup. This doesn’t happen much anywhere else in the world. The excitement leads to contribution and idea exchange. You could also find like minded people by attending Meetups and events according to your startup interest.

Diversity Since WW2, San Francisco had been the most diverse city in the United States. This means you could test your startup idea with the diverse community here. If your startup does well in a diverse environment, there is a higher chance it will go well once it is scaled out of this town.

Seed FundingFunding can make or break your startup. By April of 2018, 157 San Francisco startups reported raising a seed or angel round totaling around $200million. The median deal size for seed company also set a new record in 2018 for $2.2 million. This is a 30% jump from 2017’s median deal size of $1.69. With so much available investment laying around, there is no wonder why startups still bear with the high cost of living in San Francisco.

Young Adult DwellersMore favorable place for new ideas and businesses. This is a factor of your success as you could test your ideas better with young adult dwellers who are open minded. A young open minded person is more likely to test out your app or the latest gadget. This leads to faster progress and growth.

Hopping startup sceneA lot of people move to SF to engage in startup activities. There is no better feeling than being surrounded by like minded individuals who are building their startups as well

Connections Since the Bay Area is still filled startups, there are still great communities for you not only professionally but also personally. Of course, living in the middle of Idaho could be cheaper in terms of costs, but what kind of connections would you be building?There are reasons why SF continues to house the most amount of startups. Despite the high cost of living, bad public transits, there are still companies everyday being started in San Francisco. Be a dreamer and doer and start your company in San Francisco today.

A right startup needs to be at the right environment. Come check out Treehouse Society for our latest private office deals.

Zen Buddhism is usually known as a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition. However, Zen Buddhism dates back to 6th century. An Indian monk named Bodhidharma brought Buddhism to China and it was soon adapted by the Taoists at the time. Taoists used the Buddhism techniques to enhance meditation, and they formed a branch of Buddhism called Chan Buddhism. It then became popular and spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea, and to Japan. It then became popular in the West in the mid 20th century. Zen Buddhism emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation practice, and insight into Buddha-nature. It is a very pragmatic practice, not a theory or dogma. Instead of finding something exterior to fulfill the spiritual needs for self, it seeks internally. Steve Jobs is a very well known entrepreneur who practices Zen Buddhism. As he stated in his autobiography written by Isaacson, “Follow your heart and your intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” Although some might think that spirituality and business should be combined together, the combination makes sense. Spirituality and work both play an important role in people’s lives and the ancient wisdom from Zen Buddhism can really make a difference in people’s attitude toward work.

There are eightfold paths to Zen Buddhism, and they could be translated to business practices. The eight paths are right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi(concentration). 1. Right viewThis is to state that our actions have consequences. At a workplace, our actions could result in unintended consequences, so we must reflect before we act. 2. Right resolveThis is to move away from cruelty and to move into living kindness. In business, sometimes if we let things go and be less cruel, it could help to break barriers with potential customers and bring us new opportunities. 3. Right speechNo gossips, no lying, and no rude speech, which is useful in business. In a work environment, one should only speak with truth, kindness, and compassion. 4. Right conductOf course, one should not steal, lie, and be deceitful while working or managing a team. 5. Right livelihoodThis is a concept related to minimalism and to possess what is essential to sustain life. All the extra frills at work could be deemed frivolous. 6. Right effortIf we do everything with kindness and compassion and guard against sensual thoughts, that is the right effort at work. 7. Right mindfulnessBeing conscious in everything you do is very important. In this ever connected world, being mindful with everything you do could be difficult, which is why meditation can help with this. 8. Right samadhi(concentration)This is to reflect on all the actions practiced with the ideas of Zen Buddhism in mind. The best way to do that would be to meditate.

The best thing about Zen Buddhism is that it is just a practice and that there are no right answers on whether or not we are practicing correct. However, with the lengthened periods of practice, we could see results not only in our work lives, but also our personal lives.

Of course, you’ve heard of, “early bird gets the worm”, and there is a lot of truth in that. Successful people are normally early risers. In fact, today’s top leaders in every industry are up by 8am. In a monastery, monks are up by 4am, and they are meditating by 5am. In Zen Buddhism, life happenings are just waves. The earlier one gets up for meditation, the calmer the mind is and less disturbed by the waves. Even if your job allows you to walk in whenever be up 2 hours prior to work so allow yourself a calmer morning and to take charge of the flow of the day.

We live in changing times where times move fast so waking up can help you prepare for it. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group wakes up at 6am.Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple wakes up at 3:45am. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon and the richest person on earth wakes up by 7-8am. Li Ka Shing, the richest man in Hong Kong wakes up by 6am. Jack Dorsey, serial entrepreneur is up by 5am. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla is up by 7am. Richard Branson wakes up at 5:45am. Oprah Winfrey wakes up by 6:20am.

Okay, you get the point, every successful person wakes up early. There might be science behind this, waking up early helps with our mood, willpower, and metabolism. After a good night of sleep, early risers experience better prefrontal power which is related to creativity and willpower. Hence, the best time to be creative is in the morning. Morning is when the willpower is strong and the best decisions are made. According to studies, as the day goes on, the subjects were more likely to make unthoughtful choices. Maybe this is why executives wake up early to make mindful choices. It turns out that our biological clock works best when we rise with the sun. The suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is located right above the point in the brain where the optic nerve fibers cross is responsible for keeping time. Due to its location, it is able to receive the cues it needs from light in the environment to keep track of time. So your mind and body actually work best when it is waking up to the sunrise. Our hormones also work with the biological clock. The hormones responsible for metabolism rise and fall throughout the day. So waking up early could also help with sticking with a diet, and since waking up early also helps with decision making, not only is it good for metabolism, it also helps to resist the urge of binge eating. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, the earlier you wake up, the more time you’d have. Time is one of those things that shouldn't be wasted as you can't get any of those missed seconds, minutes, or hours back. To build the habit of getting up early, try setting the clock 15 minutes earlier each day until you are up by sunrise. Waking up early allows you to set the tone for the day playing offense instead of playing defense. It also allows for the time for you to eat a nutritious breakfast instead of rushing out the door.

Coworking is great for combating loneliness, looking more professional, and social innovation. A lot of small business owners, freelancers, social enterprises, startups, and nonprofits turn to coworking as an office need not only to spark new ideas, but also to reduce cost. Also, coworking benefits range from reducing carbon footprint on your transportation to shared kitchen appliance to reduce electronic waste.

Here are a few reasons why coworking could save the environment.

Building material - Building an office could be expensive due to material used for the construction. Coworking space is already built and moved in ready. Why not use an existing office that is already built?

Shared Furniture- Unless you are running a large company, half the furniture in the office sits there unused. Shared furniture in a coworking space means that there would be less unused time on the furniture.

Saving Energy- If you are working for yourself as a solopreneur or running a small company, electricity bill could be high to run for the whole floor just for a small team. But at a coworking space, you would only be occupying the space your team needs. Your team might as well share the lights and air conditioning with another company while it is running at a coworking space.

Shared appliances- Communal kitchen is not only great for conversations but also great for sharing appliances. Coworking spaces normally has water filtering machines, coffee machine, and fridge. At Treehouse Society, we have toaster oven, shelf space for members, coffee machine, water filtering machine, and fridge to share for all of our members.

Office close to home- Most people choose coworking space near their home so they could walk or bike there, which means reducing carbon footprint. Especially in San Francisco where parking is expensive and gas price is high, choosing a coworking space close to home where you could bike or walk could not only reduce carbon footprint, it could also reduce a high amount off of your monthly bill.

No wonder coworking is the most trendy way to work. Not only does it come with professional benefits, it also helps the environment to reduce the speed of global warming. Come by Treehouse Society for a tour to help with the environment!

Every company should have a human resource department. But some startups are way too small for it, and they skim HR department thinking it is unrealistic until it is too late. There is a semi-efficient way to get out of this issue. An employee handbook might be what every company needs, small or large, big or small. It has details that thoroughly show every activity taking place in a company’s office. This can be from recruiting to firing, and even the dress code. The process of writing a handbook can be long and tiring. However, its importance in a company makes it well worth it to have one because a company is made out of humans. Humans all have flaws and limited amount of memory, so this employee handbook can help as a guide.Below are the 5 reasons why you need an employee handbook. Protect Your Company in an Employment LawsuitIn the event that someone is taking legal action against your business in regards to employment, your lawyer will require this handbook. This is because each and every employee has read and adhered to everything written therein. Once an employee signs the acknowledgment section in the handbook will show that he or she was privy to all rules regarding the company. Thus, the lawsuit exercised against you will be in your favor. This is very helpful since the employee accepted to follow all policies inside the handbook. Adherence to Federal and Government LawEvery company that has employees is required to comply with all state and federal laws. This will involve having an employee handbook that follows all employee and labor laws in the state in question.Provided an employee who is on a leave, they will be aware of his rights as they are clearly stipulated in the handbook. Merits provided by the CompanyAll employee benefits should be clearly shown in your handbook for all your employees, from paid vacations to pensions. These merits can motivate both the employer and employee to take advantage of said benefits. The human resource team will have less of a workload since they won’t have to explain everything to new employees. Treating Workers FairlyIf by any chance a company does not write down its rules employees will feel that they are being treated unfairly. Having a handbook will clear all doubts about unfair treatment as everyone is aware of all the benefits they are to receive. The handbook could also include a time frame of when a merit is to be offered and to whom in regard to a position. Setting a Standard for Employees and EmployersEverything in the business will run smoothly if everyone knows what is required of them. This can be anything from what to wear within the premises to what time to arrive at work. This will often help to avoid time wasting and increase the productivity of the business. Especially if a manager requires dealing with a business issue and the owner is unavailable, the handbook will direct him or her. ConclusionAll in all, an employee handbook is supposed to help employees feel comfortable in their workspace. Whenever a problem arises or they don’t what to do in a particular situation they can find answers in the handbook. ​Sources:Management, H. (2017, May 16). Paycor:8 Reasons You Should Have a Company Handbook. Retrieved May 5, 2018, from Paycor: https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/8-reasons-your-organization-should-have-an-employee-handbookMsiza, T. (2017, August 15). How to Write a Human Resource Manual. Retrieved May 8, 2018, from wikiHow website: https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Human-Resource-ManualNguyen, C. (2015, August 25). Amity Law: Top 5 Reasons your Company Needs an Employee Handbook. Retrieved May 5, 2018, from Amity Law: http://www.amity-law.com/blog/2015/8/25/top-5-reasons-your-company-needs-an-employee-handbook

Being productive is the always the key of success. Of course, internet had helped with our productivity. It had provided a new way to scale businesses, but there are also some downsides that come with it. We often lose ourselves in the information flow that comes from all of our devices altogether. Even before picking a restaurant, the internet provides us with so many choices. Imagine how much information internet is providing us before every decision in our lives. This is why sometimes you need to say "STOP" to the flow, take a deep breath, and let your mind choose what you actually need at this moment. And it less likely will be to keep going with surfing the internet for random information.So here I collect 5 main reasons why you need to go offline and how it helps you to come back to the internet life fresh and more productive.Here are 5 reasons why internet can cost us our productivity sometimes. 1. Distraction. This is the most important reason. Yes, it's obvious. Everybody knows how distractive internet could be. One moment you are checking what that interesting new post your friend just posted, then you get hungry and try to find the best restaurant to satisfy your appetite. Then you suddenly realized that it's been two hours ago and you are still looking for something unrelated to what you were trying to finish.That's why you need to put away all your gadgets during the time of doing important things which need a lot of attention and efficiency.2. Frustration.After the next motivational video, we always think that we would start to act. But... Almost always it doesn't help or, even worse, it causes frustration. That's probably because we think this is so easy and after finishing watching the video I will definitely go and do everything to become successful but, in reality, it's much more complicated to apply it.3. Living others’ lives.When we see others’ posts about "luxury life" photos or videos we tend to regret that we're living this life wrong and thinking why things happen this way but not another. Sometimes we become envious of people who post these contents on social media. It is embarrassing, but we have all been there. So, don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to the person that you were yesterday.4. Straining.Sometimes our body and our mind need to take a break and relax. It's very important do not forget to make a small break and move our eyes away from the screen. Actually, every 45 minutes is necessary so we can stay the most concentrated exactly during first 45 minutes of any activity.5. Unhealthy.No matter how ergonomic your set up is, your internet use is killing your back. Even if your computer set up is the most ergonomic, chances are that you are also looking down at your phone screen to check your email, social media, or text messages. On top of that, our eyes are strained from screen time. And if we don't take a break from this information flow, we're slowly killing ourselves. Take a break, say "stop" more often, relax and just be happy within the real world. By doing that you can be more productive than you thought and engage in a lot more meaningful conversation and lead to a lot more meaningful relationships.

Do you think about whenever you wake up? No. Your mind already knows what you will be doing for the day. Your mind is formed by the habits every morning. Habits play a very important role in our life. Habits can control most of your life outcome. You become controlled by your habits, but of course, you can always change the situation and be the organizer of your day. Shaping habits could be very hard, but everything is possible is you are persistent and you are ready to spend time to form new habits. It takes about 21 days to form a new habit. It might be long, but it is definitely worth it. If you can form good habits to support yourself and help you succeed in goal, it will be worthwhile. Here are 5 tips on forming habits:1. Make "micro quotas" and "macro goals"In a fascinating study on motivation, researchers found abstract thinking to be an effective method to help with discipline. In the most basic sense, "dreaming big" is a pretty good advice after all. There are a lot of researches around self-determination theory which show that creating intrinsic motivators (being motivated to do things internally, not through punishments or rewards) is an essential process of building habits that stick. It is important to find a way to balance this desire to dream big with your day-to-day chores, which often do not result in quick dramatic changes. The answer is to create what "micro quotas" and "macro goals." Your goals should be the big picture items that you wish to someday accomplish, but your quotas, are the minimum amounts of work that you must get done every single day to make the bigger goal a reality. Quotas make each day approachable, and your goals become achievable because of this. Nathan Barry, a writer, has made a great case study of the use of these quotas as someone who forced himself to write 1000 words per day come hell or high water. The result was three self-published books resulting in thousands of dollars in sales. 2. Create behavior chainsCreating sticky habits is far easier when we make use of our current routines, instead of trying to fight them. The concept of if-then planning is built around environmental "triggers" that we can use to let us know that it is time to act on our habit. For example, create an environment that is a trigger for you to get to work. A coworking space might just be perfect for that. As you arrive at a coworking space, it triggers the habit to work. 3. Eliminate excessive optionsIt might be boring to not have too many choices in life, but there could be great power in it. One's brain is only capable of making so many choices per day and eliminating choices could help with decision making according to a research by Kathleen Vohs and her colleagues. President Barack Obama was a great example for this study. He stated in an interview, "I am trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make too many decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."So, being boring might be great in maintaining a habitual life. Cut out unnecessary choices to live a more effective disciplined life. 4. Process plan (but don't fantasize) The step that many people skip when they fantasize about building a certain habit is they never clearly answer why they want the change to occur. It may seem like a small detail, but it plays a huge role in keeping motivation for change up over the course of changing habits. BUT research shows us that excessive fantasizing about results can be extremely detrimental to the stickiness of any habit. It is time to set the expectations realistic. 5. Stick to Your HabitsIt is really hard to make the new habit stays most of the time. Ever told yourself you would be at the gym in the new year and never stuck to that habit?Ramit Sethi found a solution to his own gym problem by simply finding where things will slip. "When I sat down to analyze why I wasn't going to the gym, I realized: my closet was in another room. That meant I had to walk out in the cold to put on my clothes. It was easier to just stay in bed. Once I realized this, I folded my clothes and shoes the night before. When I woke up the next morning, I would roll over and see my gym clothes sitting on the floor. The result? My gym attendance soared by over 300%. Find the failing factor to make your habits stick.

Every year, millions of “startups” are founded around the world. A handful of those will be lucky enough to take on funding, hire talented employees, and eventually go public or get acquired.

While there are an infinite number of details that go into making this dream a reality, one critical detail is setting up your company’s cap table. Before you do, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with key terms around equity and basic cap table structure.

A cap table is a company’s record of ownership percentages; the cap table changes over time as a result of different financing events and company growth. Historically, the cap table has been tracked in Excel. Today, there are software platforms (like Carta) that can automate the management and compliance checks associated with your cap table. Leveraging software will help ensure accuracy, cut down on maintenance time, minimize expensive legal fees, and ensure you have proper historical data as you grow.

As a startup founder, these are 5 key milestones that will impact your cap table from founding to IPO:

1. Founder’s Stock - The initial names on a company’s cap table are it’s founders. At the outset, the value of founder’s stock is generally close to nothing, but if the value of the company increases quickly founders will need the proper documents in place to ensure tax compliance. If there are co-founders, important conversations on ownership percentages will need to occur to make sure that everyone is in agreement on equity stakes prior to raising capital or hiring employees. 2. Early Investors - Raising capital with early investors will give you the runway you need to start working towards a Series A. Many startups choose to do this via a SAFE Agreement or Convertible Note. Both of these options will eventually convert to stock when the company goes through an equity round. This stock conversion will be a painful process if the cap table is not set-up properly. 3. Employees - Options have become an expected and necessary perk of working for an early stage company. If you want to bring in top-tier talent, but can’t compete with the high salaries offered by more established companies, you can add options to your compensation plan. Once you’ve added employees to your cap table, there are a lot of details that need to be tracked: the number of shares allocated to an employee option pool, vesting schedules, and post-termination exercis e windows, to name several. 4. Compliance - Now that you have the founders, investors, and employees on your cap table, there are reporting requirements you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant with: ​a. 409a Valuation - This sets the fair market value (FMV) of your company. It’s required by the IRS annually if you’re issuing common shares. The 409a valuation has to be performed by a 3rd party valuation service, and ensures that your options are being issued at a fair value, saving employees from tax penalties.b. Expense Reporting (or Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718) - ASC 718 is an accounting standard for expensing stock-based compensation issued to employees. These reports will become very important when going through due diligence for an M&A or IPO. c. 10% Shareholder- There are specific requirements around issuing equity to an employee who owns 10% or more of the total voting power across all classes of stock in a company. d. Rule 701 - This section of the Securities Act of 1933 allows private companies to issue options without complying with federal registration requirements. However, there are specific disclosures if the equity awards exceed $5M in a 12-month period. e. ISO/NSO Split - You cannot issue more than $100,000 in Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) to any one employee during a calendar year. If you do, the options that exceed the limit need to be issued as Nonstatutory Stock Options (NSOs). ​5. M&Aor IPO - If you’ve made it to the point where you’re considering an M&A transaction or an IPO, the last thing you want standing in your way is inaccurate or missing cap table information. There are strict due diligence processes, involving multiple parties, when preparing for these events. Having clear documentation of your capitalization history will allow you to quickly respond to questions, and ensure these events are seamless.

While proper cap table management and compliance practices are crucial to the financing, hiring, and future of your company, cap table management should never distract you from focusing on your company’s vision. Make sure you have the proper legal, administrative processes, and platforms in place now to help navigate avoidable mistakes and potentially expensive accounting reconciliations in the future.

{Disclaimer: I work for Carta, an ownership management company that automates cap table management and compliance. I am not a legal or financial advisor. I speak with hundreds of early stage companies every month about their equity structures, and how Carta can help maintain accuracy and compliance. This article is based on information I’ve gathered in my time at Carta, and in those conversations. If you’d like to know more, you can schedule a demo of Carta with me here.}